mongodb update field with another field

Using a standard relation database it is easy to update the value of a column with that of another using a simple update statement. This is not the case with mongodb, luckily you can perform a simple query to produce the same result. By looping through every matching element in a collection and then creating an update for that object we can obtain the same result (all be it in a rather more elaborate manner).

db.person.find().forEach(
    function (elem) {
      elem.name = elem.firstname + ' '+ elem.lastname;

      // don't forget to save the updated document
      db.person.save(elem);
    }
  )